Boing Boing

Boing Boing

In 1964, a Dutch librarian drilled a hole in his own skull to get permanently high

Ellsworth Toohey
Jul 07, 2026
∙ Paid

By Anefo - Nationaal Archief, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

According to Bart Huges, the Dutch librarian attended medical school in Amsterdam “but was refused a degree due to his advocacy of marijuana use.” In 1964 he published a scroll arguing that trepanation — drilling a hole in the skull — “could be used to enhance brain functionality by balancing the proportio…

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Boing Boing.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
© 2026 Happy Mutants LLC · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture